The Argos will kick off their 2013 season against the arch-rival Hamilton Tiger-Cats with just four starters from last year's defence.

The Argos are hoping they can repeat as Grey Cup champions this season.

By:Dan RalphThe Canadian Press, Published on Wed Jun 26 2013

Head coach Scott Milanovich anticipated the Toronto Argonauts defending their Grey Cup title with a few new faces on defence, but even he couldn’t have predicted such a major off-season overhaul.

The Argos will kick off their 2013 season against the arch-rival Hamilton Tiger-Cats with just four starters from the defensive unit that helped Toronto capture the 100th Grey Cup eight months ago.

“We didn’t expect as much (turnover) as we had,” Milanovich said in advance of Friday’s game at the Rogers Centre. “But in this game you’ve got to expect turnover and injuries and that’s what happened.

“Fortunately Jim (Argos GM Jim Barker) and his staff had us prepared for it.”

That leaves linebackers Brandon Issac, Robert McCune and Marcus Ball along with cornerbacks Jahlil Carter and Pat Watkins as the lone holdovers from last year. However, Watkins only started practising this week after missing training camp dealing with personal matters in Florida.

Barker’s biggest off-season acquisition — literally and figuratively — was landing defensive tackle Khalif Mitchell from the B.C. Lions. The 6-foot-5, 315-pound Mitchell has proven himself — he’s a former all-star and Grey Cup champion — but was suspended twice last year by the CFL for incidents on and off the field.

Barker also added defensive lineman Jermaine Reid (trade, Edmonton) and linebacker James Yurichuk (free agent, B.C.) while welcoming defensive lineman Cleyon Laing and linebacker Herve Tonye-Tonye. Both were 2012 draft picks who returned to school last fall.

Laing made Toronto’s active roster while Tonye-Tonye begins the season on the practice roster.

But it’s the linebacking crew that will make the defence go and provide the unit’s leadership .

McCune posted a team-high 86 tackles last season, 13 more than Ball. Watkins was third with 67 tackles while finishing tied with Younger with a team-high five interceptions.

Issac was fifth in 43 tackles but added four sacks, tops among the Argos’ linebackers, and will serve as a defensive captain.

Barker said while Toronto’s new-look defence will definitely be younger and athletic in 2013, that will come at a price.

“I think we’ll be a little faster, we’ll be younger but we’ll make mistakes,” Barker said.

Having a quick, athletic defence certainly plays into the hands of Argos defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones, who likes rotating players in and out of sometimes very creative schemes. Last season, Jones often had Ricky Foley — who had 12 sacks in ‘09 with B.C. — drop back into coverage to fully utilize the six-foot-three, 256-pound defensive end’s athleticism.

However, it’s Ray who makes the Argos offence tick. After a slow start to the 2012 campaign — his first with Toronto — Ray ended with a bang, passing for 869 yards and five TDs in the club’s two playoff games and the Grey Cup.

The 33-year-old signed an extension with Toronto this off-season through the 2015 campaign. Ray said having a year under his belt should allow the Argos to start 2013 much stronger than they did last year.

“This year, I’m going to be able to carry over things we worked on last year and any tweaks we want to make, I won’t have to worry about where guys are lining up or what I’m supposed to do.”

The 2012 season was definitely one to remember for Milanovich, who capped his rookie head coaching campaign by being named the CFL’s coach of the year. But Milanovich has quickly put last year’s exploits in his rearview mirror.

“It’s a new year,” he said. “I look at it as another year and another opportunity to win a Grey Cup.

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